Poachers go after wild berries

Herbal supplement demand drives problem

On a remote road in northwestern Palm Beach County, a sheriff's deputy found the swag near a fence: seven bags of saw palmetto berries worth more than $1,000.

The poachers got away, but the seizure this month at the Pine Glades Natural Area illustrates the continuing problem of berry thefts from South Florida's parks and preserves.

Although much of the wildberry haul is legal, poachers work throughout South Florida to meet the demand for one of the nation's most popular herbal supplements, sold as capsules and liquids at drug stores nationwide.

Many of the poachers are out-of-season farm workers desperate for money, scouring public and private property in western Broward and Palm Beach counties, as well as parts of Collier, Lee, Hendry and other areas with large swaths of forested wild lands, according to farm workers' groups and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"During the months that palmetto berries are harvested, there's not much going on in Florida in terms of harvesting fruits and vegetables," said Tirso Moreno, general coordinator of the Farmworker Association of Florida Moreno. "It's the opportunity to make some cash."

But the berries are vital to Florida's wildlife.

"This is a staple for a lot of our native species, including the black bear, the deer, a lot of different animals that depend on the berries for nutrition," said Jorge Pino, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

No one knows how much is poached. The berries typically go to buyers in Immokalee and other agricultural centers, where both legally and illegally obtained berries are sold. These buyers deliver them to processors who sell the oil to supplement manufacturers.

Prices vary from year to year, but this year the berry pickers made 80 to 90 cents a pound, Pino said.

The work is difficult and dangerous. The poachers reach through thin fan-like leaves to the berries clumped around the tree's thick, winding trunk, where they could encounter snakes or stinging insects. Last month, two people were killed on a berry-picking expedition in Collier County when their boat capsized.

"Workers in the orange groves are used to snakes," Moreno said. "But palmetto berries are more dangerous because they have to go out into the wild."

The oil from saw palmetto berries became a popular supplement in the 1990s, as some researchers claimed it could alleviate the symptoms of an enlarged prostate and treat other ailments. The National Institutes of Health says any benefit to the prostate is "modest at best."

But saw palmetto supplements remain a big business, with sales of $31.7 million last year -- making them the third-ranked herbal dietary supplement in the United States, behind only cranberry and garlic, according to the research firm IRI.

In the Palm Beach County case, a wildlife officer suspected berry poaching when he saw a pickup truck make a U-turn to pick up a man emerging from the woods near Indiantown Road, west of Jupiter Farms. A sheriff's deputy attempted to talk with them but didn't learn much because he did not speak Spanish.

The deputy walked around and discovered the bags of berries. The man on foot fled. Since there was no evidence to tie the driver to the berries, he was allowed to leave.

Arrests are rare. Last year, the wildlife agency charged just three people, two in Collier County and one in Walton.

In one major arrest in 2010, officers stopped a pickup truck leaving the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area on the Gulf coast, home to a small, struggling population of black bears, and seized 5,000 pounds of palmetto berries.

At Big Cypress National Preserve, law enforcement officers distribute fliers in English, Spanish and Creole in the Immokalee area, the center of the South Florida's farm worker community, warning against berry poaching.

"Harvesting saw palmetto berries within State and Federal protected lands is illegal," states the flier. "Federal and State preserves, parks, forests and refuges are protected areas for all to enjoy. Collection of natural and cultural resources is not allowed, unless under special regulation."

Moreno said the berry pickers have a difficult time and that his organization is trying to change that.

"We're doing some research to see if we can make a deal with the government to see if we can get palmetto berries with their permission," he said.